From the bakers in Naples, who prepared the first dish to be known as a “pizza” in the 1600s to current time where pizza is a $30 billion per year industry, this dish sure has come a long way.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

 Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 2 Large Pizzas

Calories: 800 cal

Ingredients

for the bread base

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup curd or as needed to knead the dough
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt or add as required
• some olive oil for brushing
• all purpose flour or cornmeal (makki ka atta) or semolina for sprinkling

for pizza sauce

• 4 to 5 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• freshly crushed or ground black pepper, as required
• salt as required

toppings for 2 medium sized veg pizza

• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
• 1 tomato, chopped or sliced
• 250 g mushrooms, sliced
• 8 to 9 pitted black/green olives, sliced, optional
• grated mozarella cheese or pizza cheese, as required
• fresh or dried herbs, as required

Instructions

making pizza dough

• In a bowl add one cup flour, salt, olive oil, baking soda, baking powder and half of the curd .
• Stir. Add another cup of flour. stir again. The mixture will now become sticky.
• Add the last cup of flour and continue to stir while adding the curd to make the dough soft.
• Knead the dough into a smooth, springy ball. Apply some olive oil all over the dough.
• Cover loosely and keep in a large bowl at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.
• The dough will double up and nicely leaven.

making pizza sauce

• Blanch the tomatoes and the chop them.
• Heat oil. Fry the chopped garlic. Add the tomatoes. Let them cook uncovered for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add the herbs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Cook further for 3 to 4 minutes.

Assembling and making veg pizza

• Flatten the dough to a disk. on a floured surface roll the dough.
• Place the dough onto a greased and dusted pan.
• Brush some olive oil on the pizza base. spread the tomato sauce on the pizza.
• Top with the veggies. spread the grated cheese.
• Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees c till the base becomes golden brown and the cheese on top melts and gets browned.
• Serve veggie pizza hot.

Tips

1. If the dough becomes sticky add some flour and vice versa. If the dough is not soft and a bit dry, then add some warm water.
2. You can saute the veggies lightly in olive oil if you want.
3. The leftover pizza sauce can be refrigerated.
4. Leftover pizza dough can be refrigerated or freezed. If freezed, it stays well for a month.